January 2014

REAL CLASSIC 117; PUBLISHED IN JANUARY 2014

RC REGULARS

THE CONTENTS PAGE ...................................4
As I type this, they are undecided about which
bike to put on the cover. Should it be the Egli?
The Norton? The Matchless? The RE? Gosh, all
this excitement and Christmas too!

WE’VEGOT MAIL! ...................................... 14
Sanglas, Shifty, swinging Sixties and rusty tin.
There’s more variety in here than in most places!
Rowena’s epic about Birmabrite will have to wait
until next time…

OUTWARD BOUND.................................... 82
Ready for the new year yet? Nope, neither are
the RC Crew. But they are looking forward to the
Bristol Show, one of our faves

NEWS.......................................................... 85
A light. A brake disc. What’s the world coming
to? Where is the whimsy, the obscure? Plainly TP
needs inspiration, or chocolate…

READERS’FREE ADS .................................. 88
Only a round dozen bikes for sale this time. We
wondered whether to amuse you by lifting ads
from other places, but decided you’d rather read
more about bikes instead.

PUBTALK ................................................... 98
PUB has been exercising the stable before
winter sets in too badly, and reviews the late
2013 shows.

BENDSWINGIN’........................................ 104
Minton finds himself at a loss when trying to
understand the curious demands of motorcycle
buying hopefuls, many of whom seem closer
related to Goldilocks (too hot, too cold etc)
than to mechanicals. While others display
prodigious naïveté…

TALES FROM THE SHED........................... 109
It’s winter; time for sparklers and the lightening
of darknesses. Frank Westworth has been
illuminated

MATCHLESS G3CS........................................ 6
Woolly jumpers, stout shoes, mist and the crackle
of a big single. Frank Westworth has being playing
again…

EGLI VINCENT ............................................22
A replica is the sincerest form of flattery; discuss.
Nolan Woodbury meets Robert Jones, a man
whose mission built him a special replica…a very
special replica!

NORTON MODEL 7.................................... 32
Most folk who want to go faster tend to fit a revvy
engine into a featherbed frame. So what happened
to the surplus Dommi engines? Here’s one now,
retro-fitted to an early Dominator chassis, ridden
by Rowena Hoseason…

ROYAL ENFIELD 500TWIN .........................42
Saved from the scrapheap! It’s amazing what still
comes wriggling out of the woodwork and is well
worth salvaging. Mike Powell rescued a
real rarity…

KAWASAKI 250 SG.....................................50
Kawasaki produced a rival for BSA’s C15; did you
know that? Not only that, but Odgie has uncovered
a mysterious BSA connection to this unusual
Japanese machine…

TRIUMPH T120 TT......................................56
Seldom seen in the UK, the Bonneville TT Special
is a rare beast indeed. Alan Roberts has conquered
a steep learning curve to rebuild his own bike,
inspiring Rowena Hoseason to investigate the
background to this truly unusual off-road racer

BSA A65R...................................................64
Pride & Joy! Henry Gregson buys his first classic
bike and learns the hard way about buying online
and doing research before you spend big bucks…

MEN OF METTLE ........................................70
Last month we met Ned, a man who’s normally
famous for more than just his motorcycles. Richard
Jones looks beyond the public persona to reveal
his bikes and rides of the late 1920s…

HAPPY DAYS! .............................................74
Graham Ham is a stage star! Well…his bike is.
Winnie; take a bow. Graham reveals her path to
stardom…

MOTO GUZZI LODOLA ...............................92
Stu Thomson returns an 1960s Moto Guzzi single
to the road. Some original components have
gone walkabout, or proved less than resistant to
the ravages of time. So Stu fires up his lathe to
fabricate new and improved replacements…